In the middle of Saturday's football game at Wallace Wade Stadium, Brent Garber, the team's kicker, completely whiffed the ball on a kickoff.
He ran, his leg went up in a kicking motion, but the ball, which had blown over, remained on the ground--a most unfortunate moment of football reminiscent of the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special. Officials stood the ball back up and Garber successfully executed a kick, but the moment was emblematic for Duke football.
Garber, and his fellow sophomore class, are halfway through their college careers and they have yet to experience a win. His classmate Ryan Fowler said that the prospect of a win itself is what now propels the team.
"When we get a win, it's going to be the greatest feeling ever," he said.
Oh brother.
But for a team that has not posted a W yet in the 21st century, that motivation seems to be wearing thin. The year began with high prospects for Duke. Rice--a sure win, as was Vanderbilt and Wake Forest, even N.C. State.
The first quarter of the Florida State game, in which Duke led the Seminoles 6-0, showed the Blue Devils could play, if only for 15 minutes, with some of the best talent in the league. In the first quarter of Saturday's game against Vanderbilt, Duke again lept to a 7-0 lead, struggled to a 14-14 tie and fell to a staggering 42-28 defeat.
Rats!
What's going wrong? Duke executed 94 plays to Vanderbilt's 59 and had 13 minutes--almost a quarter--more possession time than Vandy and could not do anything with it.
Perhaps that is because Vandy's scoring drives averaged about one minute and 29 seconds as running back Lew Thomas had his way with the defensive line, and quarterback Greg Zolman faced little to no pressure from an uninspired Duke defense.
"We didn't get much pressure on Zolman," Franks said. "He had a lot of time to throw and we haven't learned how to stop the option."
It's called the blitz--safety blitz? outside linebacker blitz? Wide zone blitz?
Good grief.
Last year, in Franks' first winless season, he said that each Saturday was not about winning games, but about winning small battles along the way. He did a tremendous job rallying a young team with little experience--perhaps too much. This year, however, the team is still in a battle-winning mode, rather than a game-winning mode.
"It looked for awhile like we were going to make a comeback [Saturday]," Fowler said. "Every time, though, we seemed to relax, not physically, but mentally. I think it's just that when we mentally relax... in football, you never know which play is going to be a big play."
So, when the team makes a good play--such as a 25-yard run by Chris Douglas in the first quarter, they congratulate themselves a little too soon.
Two plays later, with a touchdown in its grasp, Khary Sharpe fumbled the ball at Vanderbilt's 17-yard line.
Or in the fourth quarter, when Duke had a legitimate shot at a comeback, Bryant looked nearly Heisman-worthy, completing three consecutive passes, a 23-yard pass to Ben Erdlejac, 37 yards to Kyle Moore and 21 yards to Mike Hart. Then, two plays later at Vandy's 2-yard line, an interception in the endzone by the Commodores' Justin Giboney ended any hope of a Duke win.
"D. Bryant didn't have his best game today. He was a little off," Franks said. "We have to eliminate the turnovers on offense and the big plays on defense. When we do, that will give ourselves the best chance to win."
A win will strengthen Duke's mental resolve, yet a lack of mental resolve is what holds Duke back from a win.
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Normally, in sports, no one likes to comment about a streak--winning or losing. The general response is to say nothing. It doesn't matter.
It's one-game-at-a-time. But the 20-game skid is now unavoidable--it's become a sad, routine part of Duke football and just as unavoidable is the effect it is having on the team.
"Obviously, every single time we add to this losing streak, it's extremely difficult to overcome it," Duke tight end Mike Hart said. "Another loss is just another kick in the stomach, and we've been taking these kicks for too long of a time."